University Of Cambridge News

The green hydrogen express is gathering pace, but it may have a worrying problem with leaks.As governments and energy companies line up big bets on the much-touted fuel of the future, some scientists say the lack of data on leaks and the potential harm they could cause is a blind spot for the nascent industry.At least four studies published this year say hydrogen loses its environmental edge when it seeps into the atmosphere. Two scientists told Reuters that if 10% leaks during its production…

Ports and terminal operators are entering a new era where the operational threats they face – both old and new – will make a return to ‘business as usual’ increasingly unlikely, even once the pandemic finally subsides.Transition to new technologies and digitally enabled systems, addressing the impact of climate change, defending against cyberattacks and shifting geopolitics will couple with traditional supply chain and operational risks to change the face of the sector.According to Global Port Trends 2030…

There was important cruise news in January: Viking – a premier European ocean and river cruise company - will offer two new “destination-focused travel experiences,” starting in 2022. One set of cruises becomes Viking’s first foray in the inland North American market, in this case the Great Lakes. Another set of cruises will head to the Arctic and Antarctica. Viking is building two new vessels: the Viking Octantis and the Viking Polaris, under construction now in Norway, by Fincantieri’s VARD.In a press release Viking writes that it has created “the thinking person’s expedition.”  Indeed…

Lloyd's of London report stated that the cyber-attack on major ports across the Asia-Pacific could cost losses of up to $110 billion would occur in an extreme scenario in which a computer virus infects 15 ports.Despite the high costs to business and international trade, the report showed that the global economy is under-prepared for such an attack with 92% of the total economic costs uninsured, leaving an insurance gap of $101bn.An attack via a computer virus carried by ships could scramble the cargo database records at major ports and lead to severe disruption, according to the plausible scenario depicted in the report. Although the virus only directly affects ports in Asia-Pacific…

It may come as some surprise, but Eagle Bulk Shippng is a progressive leader in the use of big data to monitor and manage its fleet. Jonathan Dowsett, Senior Fleet Performance Manager, explains in a recent interview with Maritime Reporter TV. For our readers not familiar, who is Eagle Bulk Shipping? Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. is a US based owner and operator of 40 Supramax size bulk carriers. Both commercial and technical management is handled in-house. We are the third largest owner of Supramax bulk carriers in the world. And as Senior Fleet Performance Manager, what precisely is your job?

SulNOx Fuel Fusions Plc. (SulNOx), the leading global producer and supplier of fuel emulsion technology, and Lloyd’s Register (LR), a leading technical, business services organisation and maritime classification society, today signed an agreement that will see LR provide verification, testing, technical support and consultancy services throughout the process of SulNOxEco Fuels’ commercial deployment. The agreement will see LR provide a stringent technical assessment of SulNOxEco Fuels, verifying its operational suitability for users of hydrocarbon fuels and providing recommendations on the most effective application of the technology to secure optimum fuel and environmental savings.

Greenhouse gas emissions from thawing Arctic permafrost could result in an additional $43 trillion in economic impacts by the end of the twenty-second century, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). This represents a 13 per cent increase on the predicted economic impact of climate change by 2200, up from $326tn to $369tn. The researchers point out that the Arctic is one of the fastest warming regions on the planet and the permanent ice on land and under the seabed prevents billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere to exacerbate the greenhouse effect.

For a second year, members of the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, based in New London, Connecticut, make their way to the large ice floes of the Arctic Ocean to conduct research and test new equipment and technologies with the aim of expanding our knowledge and enhancing our ability to respond to potential hazards and emergencies brought on by increased vessel traffic through the region. It’s a mission as big and as important as the Arctic itself and one they couldn’t do alone. When RDC members depart for the Arctic, they do so aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420-foot icebreaker homeported in Seattle, Wash., that serves as a perfect platform for conducting Arctic research.

A team of scientists from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center (RDC) will depart from Seward, Alaska, for a technology evaluation in the Arctic aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy Aug. 8, the Coast Guard announced. According to the USCG, the RDC is leading a multiagency team to support Arctic Shield 2014, a 17th Coast Guard District initiative. The purpose of their month-long evaluation is to improve USCG capabilities in the Arctic region, specifically in the areas of boat operations, communications, navigational safety and oil spill response.

A team of scientists from the Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) is to depart shortly from Seward, Alaska, for a technology evaluation in the Arctic aboard the Cutter 'Healy informs USCG. The RDC is leading a multi-agency team to support Arctic Shield 2014, a 17th Coast Guard District initiative. The purpose of their month-long evaluation is to improve Coast Guard capabilities in the Arctic region, specifically in the areas of boat operations, communications, navigational safety and oil spill response. “The RDC plays a key role in charting the service’s future efforts in the Arctic by evaluating new and emerging technologies for applicability to Coast Guard operations in a harsh and remote environment,” said Capt. Dennis Evans, commanding officer of the RDC.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) says that Hall brings maritime and piracy analytic experience to the association. For the past three and a half years, Hall was Senior Analyst with the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute (HSSAI), supporting DHS S&T, USCG Headquarters, USCG Atlantic Area, and the National Strike Force Coordination Center. CLIA adds that Hall specializes in maritime security. Prior to HSSAI, she was a research analyst in the Center for Naval Analyses' (CNA) Strategic Initiatives Group focusing on threats and issues pertaining to the global commons. While at CNA, she was the CNA field representative to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S.

The Naval Academy says that an estimated 30,000 people filled the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, to witness the swearing in of the U.S. military's newest officers. The Naval Academy Class of 2014 graduated 1,068 men and women, including 784 Navy ensigns and 265 Marine Corps second lieutenants. Graduating first in the class is Marine 2nd Lt. David F. Williams, of Roanoke, Virginia, a political science and economics major who will serve as a Marine ground officer after finishing a master's degree in Latin American studies at the University of Cambridge, England. The class included 12 foreign exchange students from Brunei, Ecuador, Georgia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lithuania, Maldives, Panama, and Taiwan.

Though Russia is one of the world’s largest producers of oil and gas, it is embarking on an ambitious and somewhat imaginative programme of building floating nuclear power stations, writes Tony Roulstone, Lecturer in Nuclear Energy at the University of Cambridge, online at 'The Conversation'. These reactors, mounted on huge, 140m by 30m barges, are being built in the Baltic shipyard in St Petersburg and will be floated through the Norwegian and Barents Seas to where they will generate heat and electrical power in the Arctic.

New research published by a consortium of Climate Strategies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Econometrics, CE Delft and Transport Analysis and Knowledge Systems (TAKS) assesses the impacts on developing countries of measures to address emissions in the international aviation and shipping sectors. Greenhouse gas emissions of international aviation and maritime transport are projected to increase rapidly over the coming decades, despite significant improvements in fuel-efficiency of aircraft and ships. In order to address their growth, Market Based Measures (MBMs) have been proposed to complement technical and operational measures. These measures are being discussed in ICAO (the UN organization for civil aviation) and IMO (the UN organization for maritime transport).

An Evergreen Marine Corp. container ship set sail last Saturday as part of a project to measure and monitor the distribution of greenhouse gases in the Pacific Ocean. The EVER ULTRA is the first commercial marine vessel equipped to measure marine hydrocarbon and halocarbon emissions and is part of an international Pacific Greenhouse Gases Measurement (PGGM) project. Taiwanese scientists at National Central University initiated the PGGM project in 2008 with the cooperation of Evergreen Marine Corp., the National Science Council (NSC), the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the University of Cambridge. The project will combine data from Taiwan's FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellite…

For years, general manufacturing companies have enjoyed the benefit of laser cutting systems for producing complex or simple parts in batch volumes as low as one, and as high as tens of thousands. The laser is an incredibly powerful tool that remains unsurpassed in manufacturing activities across the world. As flexible and reconfigurable production tool that provides welding, cutting and machining capabilities in a single device, lasers are readily automated and have demonstrated that they can easily operate in "lights-out" mode for even greater productivity. With all this said, why aren't there any laser shipyards? Why hasn't one of the worlds largest and most important transportation industries rushed to implement laser cutting and welding technology?